


Once sweetly sang

by Vampiric_Charms



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Coping with war and loss, F/F, Fluff, Gen, Little bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:21:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28734123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampiric_Charms/pseuds/Vampiric_Charms
Summary: A quiet meeting on a far off moon stirs up long-ago memories for both Ahsoka and Bo-Katan that they rarely speak of, even to each other.  But the moment is soft, and it is calm, and the opportunity is rare - so they talk and discover some things along the way.
Relationships: Bo-Katan Kryze & Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 14
Kudos: 51





	Once sweetly sang

**Author's Note:**

> I may have taken some liberties with canon here, but I certainly won’t apologize for that! This one is set after _Run away_ and before _One breath apart_ , for those curious about timelines! Though of course you do not need to read those first.
> 
> Enjoy!

Ahsoka waded into the crystal-clear lake, reveling in the cool water as it swirled around her shins. Little fish, curious about the movement, flitted up to her legs and away again. She laughed and peered over her shoulder at Bo-Katan, who was lying in the grass in the shade of her shuttle.

“Are you sure you won’t join me?” she asked.

Bo-Katan lifted herself to her elbows to see Ahsoka and raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t wearing her armor, instead having found a loose-fitting green tunic and fawn-colored leggings to better suit the heat. She didn’t even have her headband, her hair lifted by the wind to flutter in and out of her face. It was a rare moment, the two of them finding time together to relax without fear.

“If you think I am getting in that nasty water after I just had my first real bath in weeks,” Bo-Katan said, “you are out of your mind.”

Ahsoka just laughed, delighted anyway. “It’s not dirty! Look, I can see straight through to the bottom.”

“Nope.”

Bo-Katan flopped back down to the thick grass, and Ahsoka could no longer see her face. Undeterred by her friend’s attitude, she took a few more steps, the water refreshing to her body and soothing to her spirit. The sky above was cloudless, sunny. This moon was only lightly habited, and they were far from the nearest town.

It was perfect, in Ahsoka’s option, even if Bo-Katan disagreed.

Ahsoka dove in, taking her time to float on her back and stare up at the beautiful sky. Two suns reflected down on her, one slightly eclipsed by the moon’s planet to cast various colors across the atmosphere. Beautiful. She closed her eyes, losing herself to the gentle currents of the lake.

“You’d better not be asleep out there,” Bo-Katan grumbled after some time had passed. “I’m not getting myself wet even to save your sorry ass from drowning.”

Ahsoka took her time returning to shore, running her hands in slow strokes through the gently flowing water. The ripples glittered as she moved, until her feet finally hit the bottom again so she could slowly walk the rest of the way. Silt tickled between her toes, an odd and welcome sensation after so long galavanting through space.

She flicked the dripping water off her fingers onto Bo-Katan’s dozing face when she was close enough. Bo-Katan cursed, her eyes flying open, and she rolled away to her side angrily.

“Ahsoka, come on!”

Smiling widely, Ahsoka dropped gracefully to the ground as Bo-Katan righted herself and viciously wiped her face with the hem of her tunic. She glared, and Ahsoka could tell she was trying not to laugh. Ahsoka lilted to the side, resting her head on Bo-Katan’s shoulder for a moment before sitting up again to stare out over the rippling water.

Turning away just enough to grab the towel she’d left in the grass, she dried her face and lekku, giving up on the rest of her body. Her clothes were sopping, but they’d likely dry out quickly in the sunny warmth. 

After a calm moment, Bo-Katan glanced over at her. “How did your last run go?”

She was referring to Ahsoka’s latest encounter with the Empire, and Ahsoka sighed. “Not bad,” she said honestly. “I faced yet another Inquisitor. I wish I knew where they were all coming from. It’s like they have a never-ending supply and it’s really getting on my nerves.”

“But you beat them every time,” Bo-Katan said. It wasn’t a question. Ahsoka smiled.

“I have a little souvenir from the fight,” Ahsoka suddenly said, sitting straighter and looking around for the pouch she usually kept on her belt. “I can’t believe I almost forgot. The beautiful weather is getting to me. But you’ll like this, hold on.”

The little bag was with her cloak by the ship’s ramp, and she crooked a finger to pull it to her with the Force. Bo-Katan looked on mildly, leaning back again to her elbows. Ahsoka could tell she was curious, though, and she grinned as she dug through the bag. She handed the item to Bo-Katan, who sat up to take it with a little frown. 

“It’s a rock,” she said dryly. “A _sparkly_ rock.”

“It’s a kyber crystal,” Ahsoka explained, unable to keep the excitement from her voice. Holding these crystals always made her feel like a youngling, her very first time in the caves. This one was no different. 

But Bo-Katan shot her a wary glance, her hold on the crystal turning delicate. “Like the ones you Force welders use in your crazy laser swords?”

Ahsoka just chuckled, unperturbed. “Yes. I stole this one from an Inquisitor’s lightsaber.”

“You can do that?” Bo-Katan stared at her incredulously. 

“Well,” Ahsoka said, only a little self-conscious of her abilities. “ _I_ can, at any rate. I don’t like to leave them with the means to make more weapons that they’ll just use to hurt people.” 

She took Bo-Katan’s wrist gently in her hand and directed her to hold the crystal up to the sun. It glittered with a faint blue sparkle, nothing like the red blade it had been used to produce. Ahsoka could feel the thrumming pulse of power even through Bo-Katan’s hand. 

“It’s very pretty, I’ll give you that,” Bo-Katan admitted after a moment, her eyes fixed on the shining stone.

“It’s kind of like a spoil of war, isn’t it?” Ahsoka asked, releasing Bo-Katan’s hand. “You like that kind of thing.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Keep it,” Ahsoka said, the offer a spur of the moment decision. She didn’t question the choice, though, and reached out again to close Bo-Katan’s fingers over the crystal. 

“But this is a Jedi rock,” Bo-Katan said, shaking her head and already trying to give it back.

“So? I’m giving it to you.”

Bo-Katan hesitated for a brief second, her closed hand still outstretched. But then she conceded, opening her fist to look at the crystal again. It glowed against her skin, refracting the light into little rainbows. 

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” Ahsoka told her. “I have no use for another crystal, I was just trying to keep it from those who would do evil with it.”

Bo-Katan turned the crystal over, watching as it glittered brightly. “Maybe,” she mused quietly, “when we next have spare metal, I’ll ask our armorer if I can use some to make this into a ring. What do you think?”

It wasn’t a question so much as a suggestion, and Ashoka leaned back on her hands in the grass. “You’ve never struck me as a jewelry person.”

“I never said I’d _wear_ it,” Bo-Katan shot back with a crooked smile. But she tucked the crystal into a pocket on her tunic just the same.

Ahsoka was almost tempted to explain to Bo-Katan the concept behind the crystals, the stories and lore all Jedi children learned. Maybe even the fact that Bo-Katan’s own darksaber was powered by one of these crystals. She knew, though, that Bo-Katan wasn’t exactly interested in such things as old Jedi stories.

“I was able to save some of Satine’s jewelry,” Bo-Katan suddenly said, interrupting Ahsoka’s thoughts. Ahsoka looked at her, surprised. Bo-Katan did not return her glance, instead staring off over the still surface of the lake. “Most of it had already been looted by the time I got to her quarters after - yeah. But I saved what I could.”

Bo-Katan was not a sentimental person, and this little admission sat heavily in Ahsoka’s chest. Memories of a life long past. 

“What did you find?”

“A lot of hair accessories,” Bo-Katan said with a tiny chuckle. “I’d offer you some, but, well.” She reached over and flicked the lek closest to her. Ahsoka flinched away playfully and Bo-Katan grinned at her, though it had a sorrowful turn. “The looters, they took the big things. Lots of gemstones and gold, all that was gone already. Which is fine - like you said yourself, I don’t wear much jewelry, do I?”

She fell silent for a moment, lost in her thoughts. Ahsoka watched her from the corner of her eyes, curious but also ready to offer whatever emotional support might be needed. Bo-Katan rarely spoke about Satine or what had transpired near the end of her life. It was a painfully sore spot that ate away at her, Ahsoka knew, and she kept those memories locked down tight. 

Ahsoka didn’t speak, waiting for Bo-Katan to share however much she wished without prodding. 

“I found what I was looking for, anyway,” Bo-Katan murmured. Her face was lowered, not looking at Ahsoka as she spoke. “Satine was clever, she had a secret compartment near her bed, no one thought to search it out.” 

She was silent again, running her fingers distractedly through the lush grass near her thigh. She frowned. “A locket,” she finally explained, eyes still lowered to the ground. “Our mother gave it to her for her nineteenth birthday. Not a traditional gift or anything, but Satine cherished that necklace and I envied her for it during my childhood. When I found it - she’d kept a printed image of our parents inside. And one of me, too. I thought she hated me.”

“I’m sure Satine didn’t hate you, Bo,” Ahsoka said, trying her best to refute what Bo-Katan believed so deeply. “I don’t think Satine could hate anyone, especially not her family.”

Bo-Katan scoffed, her eyebrows furrowing with a passive anger Ahsoka recognized. “Perfect Satine, yes. The beautiful one, the calm one, the perfect daughter and duchess. She did no wrong.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Ahsoka said softly, though at this point it was probably a bit too late to bring Bo-Katan back around.

But Bo-Katan surprised her, exhaling in a huff and turning her face to the sky. Her angry expression was gone, replaced with a far-off melancholy Ahsoka rarely saw worn so openly. “I should have been a better sister to her.”

Ahsoka reached out for Bo-Katan’s hand, picking it up out of the grass and clasping it in both of hers. “Don’t get lost comparing yourself to Satine, Bo, or hurting yourself for past mistakes. You have qualities that are uniquely your own, and they count for a lot. Besides,” she added, already feeling heat in her cheeks before she even finished speaking, “I think beauty must run in your family.”

Bo-Katan looked at her for the first time since this conversation had begun, surprise coloring her features and a faint red dusting her nose. Ahsoka squeezed her hand. 

“Yeah?” she asked with a teasing smirk.

Ahsoka blushed again, but she didn’t drop Bo-Katan’s hand or her gaze. “Yeah.”

Bo-Katan lifted their clasped hands and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to Ahsoka’s knuckles. “If you say so.”

Embarrassed now, Ahsoka released Bo-Katan’s hand and folded hers carefully in her lap. Bo-Katan chuckled, looking away again. Bo-Katan knew exactly what she was doing to her and it made Ahsoka burn inside. She pushed it down, faintly irritated with herself. 

“You should have the crystal set in a ring,” Ahsoka said, liking the idea now that it had been suggested. “It would suit you. Like a symbol of power, you know?”

“And of defiance, against the Empire.”

“Pretty sure you’ve made your thoughts regarding the Empire quite clear already.” Ahsoka smiled at her and Bo-Katan returned the gesture, though it flitted away rather quickly.

“Yeah, I guess. Look at what that cost me,” she grumbled frostily. “My entire life in shambles.”

Ahsoka paused, on the precipice of a discussion they’d skirted around and also delved into several times since the Empire took control of Mandalore. She reached out again to put her hand firmly on Bo-Katan’s shoulder, forcing those green eyes to look at her again. 

“I don’t know if I’ve told you this,” Ahsoka said, “but you made the right choice, Bo. You did the right thing by resisting them _even_ _if_ ,” she added quickly before the interruption could come, “even if that meant fleeing while you had the chance. It was the right choice and you saved hundreds of lives. Including your own.”

Bo-Katan watched her silently, then nodded sharply and looked away. Ahsoka took this to mean she understood, that she agreed, and that was enough. She lowered her hand. 

“So,” Bo-Katan said after a beat, a playful edge back to her voice. “If I _do_ have that crystal set into a ring, what would that mean?”

Ahsoka frowned at her, confused, and Bo-Katan just smirked. That didn’t calm the sudden surge through her chest at all.

“You’re already part of my clan,” Bo-Katan continued blithely, leaning back to her elbows in the grass. “But if I made that ring and actually wore it,” she paused to shoot Ahsoka a piercing glance, “would that mean we’re bound in another way? You do have a piece of my beskar, after all. And now I have your Jedi rock.”

Even if she had grown used to the way Bo-Katan enjoyed teasing her, Ahsoka still blushed. “I’ve not considered that,” she said honestly. “Maybe.”

“Fair enough.” And just like that, Bo-Katan dropped the subject. 

Ahsoka watched her, a little surprised but not disappointed by the turn this had taken. Bo-Katan was staring out over the lake, watching a large avian creature swoop down to grab up a fish near the other bank. The wind was tossing her hair into her face and Ahsoka reached out, brushing some of it behind her ear. 

Bo-Katan turned slightly to give her a lopsided grin that made Ahsoka’s heart feel very full. She smiled back at her.

“I’d like to see the ring,” she said softly, “once you make it.”

“I can make you one, too,” Bo-Katan offered. Her eyes were soft, sparkling in the light of those two suns overhead and she was, just as Ahsoka had said, very beautiful. “If you come across any more of those crystals in your travels.”

“Are you a jewelsmith now?” Ahsoka asked, chuckling. But the offer was indescribably tempting, and she hoped Bo-Katan wasn’t still teasing her. 

They both knew she wasn’t. 

“For you, Ahsoka, I think I could probably do just about anything.”


End file.
